Former Hillgrove High School standout Marcus Dortch scored 22 points, and the soon-to-be shuttered Southern Poly men’s team won its final home game Thursday, 97-89 over Auburn Montgomery.

The game came three days after the announcement that the Southern Poly athletic department would be dissolved after the current athletic season, ahead of the university’s merger with Kennesaw State.

“Overall, it was a great team win,” Hornets coach Jeffrey Pourchier said in release. “It was the last game ever here at Southern Poly and we came out of here with a win. The kids fought hard over the last 10 minutes and played extremely well.

“I think the crowd really helped us (Thursday). Late in the game, the crowd stepped up and made a lot of noise.”

Southern Poly (13-16, 7-10 SSAC) will play its final regular-season game Saturday at Southern Wesleyan.

Jacksonville 71, Kennesaw State 69: Keith McDougald scored Jacksonville’s last seven points to lift the Dolphins to a victory over Kennesaw State.

Jacksonville (12-16, 8-9 Atlantic Sun) led 64-53 with 5:42 before going into a scoring drought that let Kennesaw State (6-24, 3-14) close the gap to 64-62. McDougald then made two free throws with 1:30 left. Delbert Love’s 3-pointer with 12 seconds left got the Owls within 70-69, but McDougald added a final free throw and Orlando Coleman’s last-second 3-point attempt for the Owls missed.

Nate Rucker scored 17 points, Love 15 and Nigel Pruitt 11 for the Owls, who were knocked out of contention for a conference tournament berth.

Jacksonville has won three straight games.

Chattahoochee Tech 70, Georgia Perimeter 67: With 10.8 seconds left in the game, Alijah Bennett hit two free throws with 10 seconds to play to give the Golden Eagles the lead they needed to secure the win.

Chattahoochee Tech (25-15) will be the No. 2 seed for the GCAA tournament, which will start Tuesday. It will host the first round against the No. 7 seed yet to be determined.

Bennett, a former Sprayberry High School standout, led the Golden Eagles with 17 points. Bennett Wade added 12 points and pulled down eight rebounds. Alyja Hennings also scored 12 points.

Markez Dix had nine rebounds to lead the way and added five blocks. He also made a dunk with 29 seconds left in the game to give Chattahoochee Tech a 68-65 lead.

North Florida 79, Mercer 76 (OT): Jalen Nesbitt and former Campbell High School star Travis Wallace scored 18 points each as visiting North Florida stunned Mercer on its home court.

With Mercer (22-8, 13-4 Atlantic Sun) leading 69-66 and just 20 seconds to play, Nesbitt was fouled on a layup and his three-point play tied the game at 69 forcing overtime.

Nesbitt’s heroics continued into overtime on a tie-breaking layup with 38 seconds to play. Nesbitt scored again on a dunk following Mercer’s missed 3-pointer and the Ospreys led 78-74 and held on for the win.

North Florida (15-15, 9-8) trailed Mercer 35-30 at the break but bounced back to a 41-39 lead after the first 7 minutes of the second period.

Langston Hall led Mercer with 24 points and the Bears still remain tied atop the conference as co-leader Florida Gulf Coast also lost Thursday night.

Georgia State 77, Texas-Arlington 49: Manny Atkins tied a career high with 27 points and Georgia State took down Texas-Arlington to earn at least a share of the regular season Sun Belt Conference title.

Georgia State (21-7, 14-1) holds a three-game lead over Western Kentucky in the conference standings. Each team has three conference games remaining.

The Panthers used a big second half to top Texas-Arlington (12-15, 7-8), erasing a halftime deficit and outscoring the Mavericks 48-15 in the second half. Atkins scored 17 of his points after the break, as the Panthers shot 59.3 percent from the field in the second half compared with 25 percent for Texas-Arlington.

Georgia Southern 82, Furman 73: Jelani Hewitt scored 22 points, including the go-ahead layup in the second half, to lead Georgia Southern to a win over Furmane.

Georgia Southern (13-17, 6-9 Southern Conference) coasted to a 47-34 advantage at the break but had to fend off a Furman rally in the second half that tied the game at 63 on a Stephen Croone layup with 7:55 to go. Hewitt quickly put Georgia Southern back on top with the go-ahead layup that sparked an 8-2 run and built a lead that would be protected in the final minute with 9-of-10 shooting from the free throw line.

Alaina Coates added 18 points as the Gamecocks (26-2, 14-1 SEC) won their 10th straight and finished 16-0 at home. South Carolina’s other 6-foot-4 forward, Elem Ibiam, had a team-high nine rebounds and five of the team’s 11 blocks.

Erika Ford had 16 points to lead the Bulldogs (18-10, 6-9), who’ll finish with a losing SEC season for just the fourth time in league history.

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